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The Latest: McCain slams Pentagon for Afghan policy delay

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sets his briefcase down before he testifies at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense budget for the 2018 budget year, on Capitol Hill, Monday, June 12, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sets his briefcase down before he testifies at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense budget for the 2018 budget year, on Capitol Hill, Monday, June 12, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sets his briefcase down before he testifies at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense budget for the 2018 budget year, on Capitol Hill, Monday, June 12, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By Associated Press 2 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ testimony before Congress (all times local):

11 a.m.

Sen. John McCain is criticizing Pentagon leaders for not finding a new way ahead for the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan. He is telling Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that unless the Pentagon sends Congress a strategy soon, the department will “get a strategy from us.”

Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that he will provide details on a new strategy for the war in mid-July. But he said he recognizes the urgency of the matter and that McCain’s criticism is fair.

Mattis said the U.S. is not winning the war there and that the military is taking steps to make certain America doesn’t pay a price for the delay in the new plan. He did not say what those steps are.